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The season finale of Rectify has come and gone, and like the previous two seasons, it’s a bittersweet closure to a season that was far too short.

Daniel calls it a brave new world as he and Janet stand outside the New Canaan house, and that seems to be the way all the characters leave us this season: embarking on a strange and new time in their lives.

Daniel and Janet’s road trip, although somber at times, is a beautiful and light way to both end the season and start a new dynamic between them. Without all the doom and extra baggage they’ve had to contend with, their mother/son relationship is charming and sweet. The whimsy over the fritters with Amantha in the middle is a completely new departure for these three, but it was wholly authentic and strikes a chord with me as I root for this family to heal.

Daniel’s final moments in Paulie are not rife with “maudlin goodbyes,” but instead filled with silly jokes and inside wit. There is a moment between Amantha and Daniel, however, that tugs at the very center of your feelings-maker. Daniel hugs her and says, “I love you, sister,” and she says it back, but the lightness in her voice reveals the complicated nature of this goodbye. Daniel walks away from John and Amantha holding hands with his mother, and I’m left sobbing into my palms.

Daniel, as weird and strange as he is, is still his mother’s son, and of all the people in the world for Daniel to relax around, she is the one. She lets him drive with the windows down, indulges his urge to talk about Kerwin, and even takes him to the prison to stand outside and look in, a situational inversion not lost on me.

While Daniel stands there, looking at the prison, he confesses to Janet that he sometimes wishes to be back inside his box—his cocoon—but because he has “no context,” he believes these feelings are unusual. Of course they’re not, especially as we see him struggle so desperately to figure out how to live outside the box.

Janet is kind and forgiving of Daniel’s naiveté and tells him he’s “not the first to romance the cocoon,” and we all know instinctively what she means. J. Smith Cameron is expert at a maternal intonation that seems both painfully personal and familiar, yet soothingly universal. All at once she’s your mother and everybody’s mother, and watching her be that to Daniel is such a relief that it hurts.

The episode is paced much more quickly than those before it, and Janet and Daniel only spent what seems like a few moments on the beach. Daniel plays catch with a little boy on the beach, and is so silly that to someone who doesn’t know better, it could seem bizarre for an adult to behave this way. But it’s not; it’s Daniel’s joy trying to bubble up to the surface, because while everyone else has been mourning his banishment, Daniel seems to be embracing it.

Daniel’s swim in the ocean could be considered a transmogrification of sorts. He and Amantha are switching places, facilitated by their caretakers, Janet and Jon. Now that Daniel is finding a home somewhere besides Paulie or prison, Amantha can claim Paulie for herself. It belongs to her, or she is now allowed to belong to it, instead of to Daniel.

Daniel, on the other hand, can let go of the tethers that bind him to his family and that have been dragging them down all the years he was in prison. By leaving on his own, he’s setting them free from the anvil collectively tied around their necks.

In fact, Daniel’s siblings have room and strength for each other, playing gin rummy and eating Chinese food, gathered around their childhood dinner table. It is also a relief to see Amantha and Teddy Jr. on the same side of the family. Daniel takes up every single square inch of their lives, so it’s easy to forget that Jared, Amantha, and Teddy had 19 years without him. They have relationships with each other that we haven’t even begun to explore.

All of this is very sweet, but it’s terribly bitter to think about this family having to set each other free again, after only being back together for seven weeks. In a world in which Ray McKinnon granted wishes, I would ask that he make them all move to Nashville or Chattanooga so they could love and hug each other through it all. But such is not the Rectify way.

It’s also not the Rectify way to wrap up a crime so neatly, but tonight Daggett finally arrested Trey Willis after a long and drawn-out session of questioning. In it, Trey swings wildly, from dumb and blank-faced to cunning and threatening. Sometimes he talks to Daggett like he doesn’t know the world at all, and other times he invokes a savvy that is hard to dismiss, telling Daggett, “I compounded my errors,” as a defense against his many mistakes concerning George.

The season is far from wrapped up in a neat bow. We know that Trey didn’t murder George, but we still don’t know who murdered Hannah. John believes the Senator has put his dirty fingerprints all over the case, and goes to see him to promise his downfall. John leaves him by whispering in his ear, “I hope your house has termites,” and the Senator is too incapacitated to engage. Maybe this means John will be around for season four, since SundanceTV has officially renewed the drama.

Tawney and Teddy’s marriage is still unresolved, but if Tawney’s dream is any indication, so are her feelings for Daniel. It surprised me when the dream came to an end and it was Tawney who was jolting awake. From all the recriminations directed at Daniel, I thought surely he was having guilt dreams over his interactions with Tawney.

Expression Of JoyThe Brady Bunch: Groovy! The Bradys: Ritual hugging Married…With Children: ”Oh, great.” Thirtysomething: ”Of course I’m happy for you. Really. But what about me? Why does it always have to be about you? The Flintstones: ”Yabba-dabba doo

Expression Of Rage

The Brady Bunch: ”Hmmm…” The Bradys: ”If you back away from something you really want, then you’re a quitter!” (the angriest any Brady has ever been) Married…With Children: ”Aaagh, God, take me from this miserable life!” Thirtysomething: ”I’m not angry, OK?” The Flintstones: ”Willllmaaaa!”

Typical ProblemThe Brady Bunch: Marcia and her rival both want to be the prom queen. The Bradys: Bobby gets paralyzed. Married…With Children: Al doesn’t buy his family Christmas presents. Thirtysomething: Nancy gets cancer. The Flintstones: Fred and Barney are staying out too late.

Typical SolutionThe Brady Bunch: The prom committee decides to have two queens. The Bradys: Bobby gets married. Married…With Children: They hate him. Thirtysomething: If only we knew… The Flintstones: Wilma and Betty decide to follow them.

Attitude Toward SexThe Brady Bunch: Never heard of it The Bradys: Omigod — even Cindy does it! Married…With Children: Peg: Yes. Al: No. Thirtysomething: They didn’t get all those kids by accident. The Flintstones: Prehistoric

How Spouses FightThe Brady Bunch: They don’t. The Bradys: Infrequently, but it happens Married…With Children: Tooth and nail Thirtysomething: They stop talking The Flintstones: Fred and Barney go bowling while Wilma and Betty max out their charge cards.

How Kids Get Into TroubleThe Brady Bunch: Greg takes a puff of a cigarette. The Bradys: Carol’s grandson steals her business cards and sticks them in the spokes of Bobby’s wheelchair. Married…With Children: By committing felonies Thirtysomething: Ethan plays with a forbidden toy rocket. The Flintstones: They don’t.

How They’re Punished

The Brady Bunch: ”It’s not what you did, honey — it’s that you couldn’t come to us.” The Bradys ”Next time, ask.” Married…With Children: By the authorities Thirtysomething: It blows up in his face. The Flintstones: They’re not.

What Family Does For FunThe Brady Bunch: Takes special three-part vacations to Hawaii and the Grand Canyon The Bradys: Has flashbacks Married…With Children: Exchanges insults Thirtysomething: Talks The Flintstones: Attends showings of The Monster at the Bedrock Drive-In

Unsolved MysteriesThe Brady Bunch: How exactly did Carol’s first husband and Mike’s first wife die? The Bradys: What’s with Marcia’s new face and Bobby’s blonde hair Married…With Children: What kind of hair spray does Peg use? Thirtysomething: Why did Nancy take Elliot back? What do Gary and Susanna see in each other? The Flintstones: How does Barney’s shirt stay on if he has no shoulders? Where do Fred and Wilma plug in their TV?

Worst BehaviorThe Brady Bunch: The Brady children once made Alice feel under-appreciated.

Best Reason To WatchThe Brady Bunch: This is what life should be. The Bradys: They’re all grown-ups now! Married…With Children: Terry Rakolta hates it. Thirtysomething (Tie) This is your life. This isn’t your life. The Flintstones: This is what life might have been.

Best Reason Not To WatchThe Brady Bunch: Blurred vision from rerun overdoses. The Bradys: You’re all grown-ups now. Married…With Children: She has a point. Thirtysomething: After a while, you think it’s real. The Flintstones: The Simpsons